


The Hatchling

by EeveeNicks



Category: Metroid
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 05:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13241796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EeveeNicks/pseuds/EeveeNicks
Summary: Samus has a few minutes to just sit and chill with the Baby Metroid as they fly away from SR-388.





	The Hatchling

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: This is my story I'm submitting to the Metroid Secret Santa I organized on Tumblr this holiday season. It's my secret Santa gift for the user drake-blight. Enjoy!

The Hatchling

 

            What was there to say about it really? Even now she questioned her decision as she stared at the creature she had allowed to board her ship. Soft and gelatinously looking, though demonstratively deadly as their battle had shown, it was almost cute in its own weird way.

            No, not almost cute. It was cute. It chirped like a little bird, and even after all these years, Samus had to admit she still had a soft spot for anything that reminded her of a bird. Especially knowing it had come from the same species that had created her. They were almost siblings in a way.

            Almost.

            She leaned back in the pilot’s chair of her ship as they flew farther and farther away from SR-388. It probably wasn’t the best idea to let a lethal alien parasite loose in the cockpit with her, but she found herself unable to care about that. The Metroid Hatchling had proven to be an ally, clearing the way for her throughout the labyrinth below the planet’s surface, and it had proven itself again in the battle with Proteus Ridley.

            Without its help, she realized, she may very well not have made it back onto this ship. She’d fought Ridley before, but he had never pinned her and come so close to defeating her as he had in that last fight. It gave her pause. He was getting stronger, and she knew their next encounter would truly put her strength to the test.

            The Metroid chirped suddenly, snapping Samus out of her thoughts. It floated playfully in front of her, shifting from one side to the other and continuing to chirp as it did so.

            “What are you doing?” she asked, realizing it was the first time she had spoken to the creature out loud. There was a strange feeling of finality to it, as if her verbal acknowledgment of the Metroid’s presence somehow made the whole situation real. “More importantly, what am I going to do with you?”

            She couldn’t exactly keep it as a pet. For one thing, bioweapons like the Metroid were banned throughout Federation territory, and for another thing she had been ordered to exterminate the species. Not adopt one.

            She was trying to figure out how exactly she would get a collar on a pet Metroid when all of a sudden the ship’s communication system alerted her of an incoming call. Snatching the baby Metroid out of the air with lightning reflexes, she managed to drag it down and trap it between her knees before the holoscreen materialized with its image of the Federation Marine Admiral staring at her intently.

            “I assume your departure from SR-388 means you’ve completed the mission, Aran,” he said. He was a short man, probably in his sixties. He had white hair and olive skin, but Samus didn’t recognize him. At this point she’d interacted with so many high-ranking officers in the Federation military, she had stopped trying to tell them apart unless they did something to really stand out.

            “Mission accomplished,” she said in the synthetic voice of her power suit. “Invasive species exterminated. Not a single Metroid remains on SR-388.”

            She conveniently left out the part where there was one Metroid still alive on her ship. It struggled against her knees, trying to free itself, but she held it tight below the view of the camera. She was going to have a lot of explaining to do soon.

            The little Metroid screeched in frustration, and the Admiral raised an eyebrow at her.

            “What was that, Aran?”

            “Um…” She paused. “Chozo. I was speaking Chozo.”

            “Chozo?”

            “Yes, Admiral. The Chozo were a bird-like species. They squawked and made sounds your human mouth can’t.” Trying to cover up the additional chirps of the Metroid, Samus made a few more noises in Chozo. It sounded like a bird squawking or being strangled.

            “I see…” The Admiral looked at her skeptically. “And what exactly are you saying in Chozo?”

            “Mission accomplished,” she lied, “and that it is an honor to be of service to the Galactic Federation.”

            She had actually said “ _Dammit, I hate molting season_ ,” but there was no reason for the Admiral to know that. It had been so many years since she had spoken Chozo to anyone that it was the first thing that popped into her head. She had heard her fathers say it a lot in the springtime back on the Zebes colony.

            “The Galactic Federation is thankful to you for your service as well, Aran,” the Admiral said, standing way too stiffly and reluctantly giving her a salute.

            Samus just awkwardly gave him a thumbs up as she rushed to switch off the holoscreen. She hadn’t done that a moment too soon because as soon as the Admiral’s image disappeared, the baby Metroid burst free from the vice-like grip of her thighs and began chirping angrily at her and floating around her head.

            Somehow though, she knew it wouldn’t attack her.

            “Sorry, but that was a close one. I can’t have anyone finding out about you just yet, um… Baby.”

            It chattered at her like a cat, but eventually it seemed to calm down and go back to floating around playfully and exploring her ship.

            “What am I going to do with you?” she asked again, not expecting any kind of response. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to explaining to the stuffed shirts of the top brass why she was transporting illegal alien cargo. They wouldn’t understand, and even if they did, they would probably just want to take the Baby and make it into a weapon.

            No, if she was going to take it anywhere, she had to make sure it would only be studied for peaceful applications. Somewhere with people who respected life and wouldn’t try to alter it. Basically, she needed to find some hippie scientists.

            “This is ridiculous,” she muttered as she keyed in a few words to the search engine and watched as a holoscreen appeared with links to different research stations within the Federation. She scrolled through it for a while before one research station stood out to her.

            Ceres.

            She had studied a bit of classical human mythology amongst the Chozo before trying to reintegrate with her species. It had never proven particularly useful, but she remembered the name Ceres. She was the Roman goddess of agriculture, the harvest, and maternal relationships. If she was going to find a ship full of hippie scientists, she’d bet it would be on a research station named after a maternal plant goddess.

            “See that, Baby?” she said, looking over to the hatchling. It chirped and floated over to rest on her shoulder. “I think we may have just found a good home for you. Some place where you could help do some real good for the galaxy.”

            It made its chattering sounds again, and Samus smiled. She knew, against her better judgment, that she was developing a soft spot for her little companion. Slowly, so as not to disturb the Metroid perched on her shoulder, Samus reached up and removed her helmet.

            The Metroid squished up and down and chirped excitedly as Samus’s face came into view for the first time. It was a little bruised up, and her bottom lip was bleeding, but she smiled back at the little creature as she freed her sweat-caked hair from its ponytail.

            “Surprised, little guy?” She laughed. “You didn’t think that helmet was my actual face, did you?”

            The Metroid chirped incoherently, but it sounded happy and that made Samus grin. She turned back to the ship’s console and put in the coordinates for the Ceres Research Station.

            “Look, I don’t want you to think I’m abandoning you,” she said as her ship changed course. “I’m just taking you to somewhere with people who can take better care of you than I can. They’re Federation scientists, but they specialize in creating things for peaceful application. Medicines and eco-friendly stuff and the like from what I can tell.”

            She pointed out the description of the station on the Ceres Research Group’s website. The Metroid looked like it was trying to read it, chattering to itself all the while.  
            “They’re going to take good care of you there,” she said, looking over to her small friend with a sad smile. “I wouldn’t be a good mama for you. Trust me. Mine died when I was little, and the only mama figure I had growing up was a giant brain that lived in a jar and eventually tried to kill me. Heh… my dads were all right though. Old Bird and Grey Voice adopted me into their family and raised me as their daughter.”

            She frowned.

            “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I want to get rid of you.” She wasn’t sure if the Metroid could understand any of what she was saying, but it seemed to be listening despite its lack of ears. “I just want you to be safe. I couldn’t give you that. My life is way too dangerous.”

            The Metroid chirped and gently began to nuzzle itself against her face. Samus didn’t know how to respond to that. It had been a very long time since any creature had shown her any level of affection, and sitting there wearing the armor of the ancient Chozo war god, it wasn’t hard to figure out why.

            “Hey,” she said as they exited hyperspace and the Ceres Research Station came into view. “You’re going to be okay, Squishy. I’m going to make sure you’re well taken care of by these people and they give you a good life.”

            She gently began to pet the top of the little Metroid as it let out a series of contented squeaks.

            “I will make sure you’re safe, even if we’ll be apart. I promise. I’ll always protect you.”


End file.
